Pump.



W. J. LAPWORTH.

Patented May 2, 1911.

n H [F u i 2.1 1

To all whom it may concern:

operating with the UNITED STATES PATENT orrrcn wiLLfAM J. LAPWORTH, orrrr'rsnnne, KANSAS.

PUMP.

' Be it lmown' that I, WILLIAM J. LAP- WORTH, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford and State ofKansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pumps, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to pumps and refers partlcularly to apparatusemploying compressed air as a motive power for lifting water, suchappliances being commonly termed pneumatic displacement pumps.

The chief objects of the improvements which form the subject matter ofthis application are :-to provide a pump that will be efficient andeconomical in its action, simple in construction, and so arranged thatits operation will be entirely automatic and continuous. r

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby air undercomparatively low pressure may be used, said means consisting of relaydevices arranged at various points along thedischarge pipe, and copumpto increase the velocity of the stream delivered through the dischargepipe and adding to the effieiency of the apparatus as a whole.

I accomplish the desired results by means of the apparatus illustratedin the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this :ap plication,theview showing in vertical section the lower portion of a well andcasing in which is arranged a pneumatic pump embodying my improvements.

Referring to the details of the drawing,

4 the numeral 1 indicates a well bore, 2 the casing and 3 the earthrounding and supporting the casing. Submerged at a given depth in thewell is located a pump cylinder 4 of suitable capacity, and furnished inthe lower head 5 with a water inlet port 6', governed by a check .valve"(1 An air supply pipe 8, connected at its upper end (not shown) with asupply of air under pressure, extends downward to the said pump cylinder4, passing'throu h the up er head 9 to communicate with to cylin ercavity 10. The said cylinder is provided with a suitable discharge pipe11," having its lower end opening near the bottom of the cylinder, andthence extending u ward through the head 9unti1 it reaches t epoint ofdischarge at Patented May 2, 1911.

the top of the well. The air supply pipe 8 is furnished with anautomatic valve 12, having its stem 13- connected to a bell-crank lever14, operated by mechanism hereinafter vdescribed. The-upper pumpcylinder head 9 is provided with an opening 9 guarded by a relief valve15. This valve and the said air'valve 12, are simultaneously operated byan automatic device constructed as follows :-Arelief cylinder 16 isarranged between the said valves and contains a float 17 having rods orstems 18, 19, projecting respectively through the upper and lower endsof the float cylinder 16, suitable stuiiing boxes 20 being furnished toguard the openings in the cylinder ends through which they pass. Thecavity of the float cylinder above and below the float 1'7 communicateswith the bore of the discharge pipe 11 through short pipes 21, 22,arranged near the ends 'of the cylinder and tapped into the wall of thedischarge pipe, thus forming supports for the said cylinder. The upperfloat rod 18 is operatively connectedwith the bellcrank lever 14,-by apin 23 which engages a slot in said lever. The lower float rod 19 isoperatively connected in the same manner to a bell-crank lever 24, whichis attached to the stem of the said relief valve 15.

It will be evident that the reciprocal movement of the float 17 in itscylinder, in a manner to bedescribed, will operate both valves at thesame time, and the arrangementof their mechanism and connections is suchthat when one valve isopen the other will be closed.

At suitable intervals along the discharge pipe 11 are arran ed automaticrelays, whose function is to ii itroduce' fresh charges of compressedair into the discharge pipe to supplement the action of the airintroduced into the pump cylinder. Only one such relay is shown in thedrawing, but as many similar devices may be installed as desired. Eachrelay consists of a cylinder 25, 1n

which is mounted a float 26 provided with stems 27, 28, projectingupward and down ward through stuiiing boxes 29, the upper I the valve30, while the relief float 17 closes the air valve 12 when moved upward.

To properly operate the apparatus ,it is necessary to have the pumpcylinder 4 and the relief cylinder 16 submerged in the water, which isindicated by the reference y numeral 33.

To explain the action of the pump, we will suppose the pump cylinder 4and the relief cylinder 16 to be filled with water. The float 17 underthese conditoins will be at its highest position, with the air valve 12open and the relief valve 15 closed. If, now, air under pressure isadmitted to the pipe 8, the valve 12 being open as stated,

' the air'will displace the water in the pump cylinder, forcing it upthrough the discharge pipe 11. When the air in the discharge pipereaches the level of the relief cylinder 16, it will displace the watertherein, allowing the float 17 to fall, closing the air valve 12 andopening the relief valve 15, the air in the pump chamber 4 escapingthrough said valve 15. The pump chamber Will then be again filled withwater, which ing the compressed air to again displace the.

rushes in through the inlet port 6, and as soon as the fresh supply ofwater reaches the relief cylinder 16 it will enter through the lowerport 22 and raise the float 17, opening the valve 12 and closing thevalve 15, allowwater which has filled the pump cylinder. As the waterpasses upward through the discharge pipe it will enter the chamber ofeach relay cylinder 25 in succession, if there are more thanone-installed, the action being the same in each case, which is asfollows :the pressure of the water will raise thevfloat 26 and open theair valve 30 connected therewith, admitting a quantity of air underpressure from the pipe 8 which will enter the discharge pipe acting uponthe watertherein to increase its velocity, thus economicallysupplementing theenerg'v applied by the air which enters through'thepump cylinder at the greater depth. A cer-.

tain proportion of the air from the pump cylinder 4 will enter the pipe11 during each cycle of operations and will ascend the said pipe so thatduring the operation of the appliance the ascending current will consistof portions of water alternating with ockets of compressed air, thelatter expan ing as higher elevations are reached. When one of thesepockets arrives at the relay cylinder 25, the expanding air will driveout the water therefrom, and cause the float 26 to descend, thus closingthe air valve 30 to shut off this auxiliary supply of air. The air thusintroduced by the action of the relay also forms a pocket or cushionbetween two portions of water. In deep wells and wherever the water isto be lifted to an unusual height, the air employed as a motive forcemust be' held under -a correspondin ly high pressure which requires theexpen iture of a large amount of initial energy. It is for the purposeof permitting the use of air under comparatively low compression,accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the cost of production thatthe system of relays is installed, and the advantages of this plan willbe particularly evident when air at a suflicient pressure is notavailable to lift the water to the required height through the medium ofthe pump cylinder and its imme diate attachments.

- Having'thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is

1. In a pneumatic pump including a pump-cylinder having a water inletport, a water discharge pipe, an air supply pipe and a relief port, thecombination of a valve for said water inlet port, a valve for saidairsupply pipe and a valve for said relief port, and means operativelyconnecting the valve in the air supply pipe with the relief port valve,said means comprising a cylinder communicating withsaid discharge pipe,a float in said cylinder and connections between said float and saidvalves, whereby the movements of said 'fioat will close one of saidvalves and open the other, and auto matically operative means connectedwith said air-supply pipe for admitting, air directly to said dischargepipe.

2.In'a pneumatic pump, including a pump cylinder having a water inletport, a

water outlet pipe, and an air supply pipe, the combination of a valve insaid air pipe, a relief valve in said pum cylinder, a relief cylinderhaving a plurahty of ports communicating with said outlet pipe, a floatin said relief cylinder, operative connection between said float andsaid valves, a relay cylinder arranged above said relief cylinder andcommunicating with the saidoutlet pipe, a passage connecting said airpipe with the outlet pipe, a' relay valve in saidpassage and afloat insaid relay cylinder operatively connected with the relay valve. I

3. In a pneumatic pump, the combination with a pump cylinder having avalve controlled water inlet port, a water outlet pipe and an air inletpipe, of means for alternately admittingair under pressure to the pumpcylinder'and removing .it therefrom,

and a relay for intermittently admitting air under pressure to the wateroutlet pipe, said In testimony whereof I afifix my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. LAPWORTH.

Witnesses:

A. H. MGCORMIGK, E. E. COULTER.

